The Bottle That Flew In
The first person to shout was Jung Yu-jin.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing!”
Ah. She must have swallowed a curse that had been trying to leap out of her mouth.
Director Rhy-lac shot to his feet at once and flung both hands wide.
“This is unacceptable!”
One of the staff members sprinted toward the culprit. Of course, Seoksu was right there among them.
Jung Yu-jin checked my cheek.
“Gongza. Are you okay?”
“I’m okayyy.”
I hadn’t even been hit; it had just skimmed past me. I looked at the empty plastic bottle rolling away on the floor.
Well, it’s just a regular plastic bottle.
It hadn’t had rocks stuffed into it, and it wasn’t laced with any dangerous chemicals.
Though if it had been, that would’ve been a real problem.
An empty bottle was an impulsive crime. That would’ve been a premeditated one.
Then again, I have no idea what the punishment would be.
It looked like Seoksu had caught the culprit. As I watched the wriggling man in his grasp, Jung Yu-jin hugged me tight.
“Gongza. Don’t look.”
“Get that guy out of here!”
“What is this? Toward a kid, too?”
No, seriously, why? I still want to look.
Peering through the folds of Jung Yu-jin’s dress, I kept my eyes on the culprit. A middle-aged man in a baseball cap was shouting himself hoarse.
“How can the child of a criminal be over there filming a movie?”
Huh. If someone only heard that, they’d think I was really the second son of that family.
Although the real second son is probably at a soccer match right now.
That said, I didn’t want to see the child of the second family going through something like this.
He’s really little. Something like this is better left to a mature guy like me.
Jung Yu-jin shouted back.
“What does that have to do with Gongza?”
The cast joined in.
“Exactly! Gongza didn’t do anything!”
“Come on, this is still a kid!”
The culprit shouted again.
“He’s blood, isn’t he? Hey, you! Get lost with your mother!”
Well, technically speaking, we weren’t blood-related. I was my mom’s adopted son.
There’s no way our country just suddenly developed a culture where adopted children are considered the same as blood relatives...
Were people still this closed-minded about that? That was a little strange. A fit here, a fit there. Was this that sort of thing?
Jung Yu-jin barked, “Gongza is adopted! Dammit—!”
Aigoo, Jung Yu-jin. You were trying to curse and got cut off again.
Then the culprit went still.
I couldn’t help laughing.
So he really didn’t know.
Wow. What a development.
So this disaster was caused by a guy who didn’t know I was adopted?
The man who had thrown the bottle shouted, “What bullshit is that? Since when do adopted kids get treated that well by their moms?”
What kind of deep-rooted prejudice was this supposed to be?
There are plenty of homes that treat adopted kids well, you know.
No, seriously—adopted children are children.
There are a lot of people who raise them with love!
That man had watched too many dramas.
Jung Yu-jin hugged me even tighter. Then Director Rhy-lac crossed his arms into a giant X and said, “We’ll take a thirty-minute break!”
Perfect timing. Director Rhy-lac lifted me up from where I’d been sitting and carried me to the waiting room. The remaining cast members also poured off the stage in a rush.
This is turning into a pretty entertaining situation.
By now the reporters were probably thrilled and already uploading articles. It had likely become a huge talking point.
Good.
This incident was better if it kept heating up.
The director sat me down on the waiting-room sofa, then took both of my hands tightly in his.
“Gongza, are you okay?”
I nodded.
“Yesh!”
“No, why are you so calm? You must have been shocked.”
Well, because I really was okay.
“You can cry if you want. That scared you, didn’t it?”
Hmm. Not really, but by common sense, a child would be rattled by something like that.
So let’s go with that.
“I was a little surprised.”
“Oh, what are we going to do? Gongza, we’re leaving. That man’s getting thrown out.”
Well, that seemed likely.
“You’re handing him over to the police officer?”
“Of course! He’s never going to be able to show his face in front of Gongza again!”
Hmm. Could you even get a restraining order over a plastic bottle? Was there really going to be punishment?
I’m a kid, so maybe there’s a chance...
As for the legal side, that would take time. It wasn’t something that could be solved right this second.
“Gongza is really okay.”
“There’s no way. Let’s go home, Gongza.”
No, why?
I shook my head.
“Gongza is going to finish the audience talk.”
“You don’t have to. They’ll understand if you leave.”
They would understand, sure. But Director.
“I’m okay.”
“Gongza!”
“Really. Hmm, that uncle probably did that because he didn’t know Gongza was adopted.”
For a moment, pity colored the director’s eyes. I smiled brightly and said,
“It’s okay. It looks like Mama treated Gongza so well he couldn’t tell.”
“Gongza...”
“Gongza knows better than anyone that Mama loves Gongza.”
I patted the director on the shoulder.
“I can tell just by looking at Mama’s eyes.”
I said this while looking at Jung Yu-jin.
“That’s why Gongza is okay.”
Her lips trembled. Then she snapped her head away and rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand.
Huh?
Jung Yu-jin’s shoulders shook.
Ah, no!
Water droplets slid down her wrist. I blinked.
Why, why is she crying?
Sniffling, Jung Yu-jin said, “Y-you shouldn’t have to go through this. False accounting, being adopted—it has nothing to do with you.”
“Don’t cryyy!”
“Sniff. Damn it, this is so annoying. You’re so sweet, and those bastards—”
I got up from the sofa and grabbed her hand tightly.
“Gongza is okay.”
“How can you be okay? You got hit with a bottle!”
No, I didn’t get hit. It just skimmed me when I dodged it.
Jung Yu-jin was crying her eyes out as she checked my forehead.
“Look, it left a mark!”
Well, there wasn’t any blood, so I doubted there’d be a scar either. It had just grazed me.
Jung Yu-jin burst into outright wailing. I looked around for tissues. Thankfully, there was a box within reach.
I pulled out a tissue and handed it to her.
“Um, senior. It’s just a mark.”
“Waaah! Then why does something like that happen at all? Those damn bastards!”
One or two tissues weren’t nearly enough. I pulled out a few more and handed them over. Jung Yu-jin rubbed at her eyes and kept sobbing.
“It’s because you’re easy to target! Honestly, if you were really a Sungjin Group kid, none of this would happen!”
Ah, I suppose that’s true. Even my mom was furious about that yesterday and swung her bat with great enthusiasm.
“Seriously, are humans not taking this too far? Why are they doing this to you? Gongza was just working hard on the movie!”
We were out of tissues again. Director Rhy-lac handed me the entire box.
I smiled awkwardly.
Well, the feeling wasn’t bad.
She’s really a wonderful person, Jung Yu-jin.
For her to care about a child actor this much, I could feel her unwavering spirit. It was the kind of loyalty you’d expect from a general.
Truly the devotion of a great commander.
Jung Yu-jin kept sniffling as she pulled tissues from the box in my hands.
“If you’re going to throw something, throw it at that Sungjin Group bastard. Not at Gongza!”
I kind of agreed.
But still.
I said earnestly, “You must be really angry. But I think it’s a relief.”
“What is?”
“That Mama wasn’t the one who had to go through this.”
Our mother would have been furious like a bulldozer, yes—but she was secretly fragile, too.
“Gongza.”
“Director!”
I looked up at Director Rhy-lac. He’d been watching everything. He blinked at me.
“Gongza is going back out for the audience talk.”
“No, you don’t have to. You can go if you want, Gongza. It’s not that important a seat.”
No, this was the eight-million-viewer celebration. How was that not important? Was eight million some casual little number?
“I’m doing it. Gongza isn’t scared.”
I smiled at Jung Yu-jin.
“I’m not wronged.”
“Gongza.”
“Really. If this is happening because Gongza is Mama’s son, then it’s fine.”
Well, wasn’t this happening because I was the adopted son of a chaebol family and wore that crown?
Then I’ll bear the weight of the crown.
Eat the sweet and spit out the bitter? Please. I’d already enjoyed plenty of the good stuff, so I was fine. This was absolutely manageable.
I grinned.
“I’m going.”
Just then, Seoksu opened the door and came in. He took in the situation and said only one thing:
“I handed him over to the police.”
Well, if it was a minor offense, that would probably be over pretty quickly. Would there even be punishment?
Jung Yu-jin looked at me. I smiled and gave her hand a light shake.
“Okay.”
She took a breath and said, “You don’t want to lose, do you?”
Hmm. That was part of it, yes.
“Exactly, Gongza. In moments like this, you can’t lose. The stronger you stand, the less the other side can run wild. Good thinking. Right. Let’s go!”
She turned at once and asked, “Director. How many minutes has it been?”
“T-ten?”
“Let’s go right away. Let’s hurry up and get the audience talk over with.”
“Yes, but before that...”
I whispered softly,
“Noona, your eyebrow.”
“Ah!”
Jung Yu-jin looked into the wall mirror. Then she jumped and stumbled back a step.
“Ah! I’m a mess!”
I smiled awkwardly. Thanks to all the crying, most of her makeup had run.
“I should’ve used waterproof makeup. Right, Gongza. Let’s go out in five minutes—no, ten! Manager!”
Jung Yu-jin immediately opened the waiting-room door and called for her manager. Then she darted out again just as quickly.
Watching her vanish like lightning, I couldn’t help laughing a little.
She’s reassuring.
Seoksu came over. I said calmly, “I’m going back out for the audience talk.”
“Yes. Understood.”
“Please contact my mother. She must have been frightened.”
Seoksu stared at my forehead as if trying to bore a hole through it. I beamed up at him.
“It’s at worst a bruise.”
“We should put ointment on it.”
“I dodged it, but it grazed me. Gongza was too slow.”
Seoksu applied the ointment. I whispered,
“Next time, I’ll dodge it.”
“No.”
Seoksu’s low voice struck the wall and came back at me.
“Next time, this won’t happen.”
Wow, Seoksu.
Looks like you’ve made up your mind.
Honestly, it wasn’t that big a deal.
I shrugged.
“I’m telling you, I’m fine.”
“No. This incident is my fault for failing to protect Gongza. I should have considered the possibility.”
No, how were you supposed to predict a bottle flying in?
Besides, Seoksu, you’re not even a bodyguard.
Wasn’t your job something more like a nanny?
“The legal matter is being handled by the chairman right now.”
Ah. So he was at the police station, then.
Seoksu bit down hard on his lip. When a man with such a fearsome face did that, an indescribable pressure filled the room.
Without meaning to, I took a step back.
Honestly, he looks like a gangster deciding on revenge.
Though this really wasn’t the kind of thing that needed such a grave expression.
Still, Seoksu clenched his fist and trembled.
No, why is he taking this so seriously!
This was basically just a mishap!
Just as I was moving my lips without knowing what to say, a staff member came in.
“Cast members, please get ready. Gongza, are you coming out too?”
Ah, so I could escape. Thank you. I answered at once.
“Yes!”
I quickly grabbed Director Rhy-lac’s hand.
“Director, let’s go!”
I’m fleeing this solemn atmosphere.
“Huh? Uh, y-yes.”
I took the director’s hand and practically dragged him along. Truly, the audience talk was becoming a matter of urgency.